The present invention relates to automatic appliances and similar devices with embedded processors requiring access to the Internet and, in particular, a system of and method for configuring an automatic appliance.
Increases in performance and reductions in prices continue to enhance the popularity of personal computers (PCs) in the home and business. Along with PCs, the Internet has provided connectivity between and among computer users at all corners of the world. At the same time, basic functions once only included in full-fledged computers are now incorporated into a wide range of devices which, when provided with access to the Internet, are sometimes called xe2x80x9cInternet appliancesxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cautomatic appliances.xe2x80x9d While such computing and data access capabilities are available in high-end devices, these capabilities are being increasingly incorporated into greater numbers of devices including home electronics and appliances. For example, in the case of the former, many home entertainment systems are microprocessor-based and include provisions for connecting to various communications networks. Home security systems may include a dialer programmed to dial a central monitoring service upon detection of an event, such as an attempted break-in or fire. Similarly, high-end entertainment systems may include communications facilities for connecting to the Internet.
To enable such automatic appliances to access available communications media such as the Internet, the user must typically configure the appliance with the appropriate settings used to establish communications on the network. In the case of an auto-dialer, a pre-programmed telephone number may be selected so that the appliance may dial-out to an appropriate server or service bureau. However, in the case of more complex networks such as the Internet, a greater amount of data may be required to provide information concerning, for example, Internet Service Provider (ISP) identity (e.g., IP address of the ISP server), user account information (e.g., name, e-mail address, password, etc.), communications type and protocol (e.g., dial-up xe2x80x9cPlain Old Telephone Servicexe2x80x9d (POTS) connectivity, broadband Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), cable modem, etc.) and other parameters used to connect with the Internet. Typically, this information may be input by the user using a remote control device, the automatic appliance itself having no keyboard. Using the remote control, the user often connects a monitor such as a television to the automatic appliance and steps through a hierarchical menu of selections to configure the appliance. This may be often an error-prone and tedious process.
Accordingly, a need exists for a simple and error-free method and system for initializing and/or configuring an Internet or automatic appliance.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a configuration server comprises a web server connected to an Internet and hosting a registration webpage accessible to a registrant on the Internet, the registration webpage including an input area receiving configuration information from the registrant, a configuration database connected to the web server for storing the configuration information, and a direct-dial interface connected to a telephone line and to the configuration database, the direct-dial interface operational to answer an incoming telephone call from an automatic appliance and, in response, transmit the configuration information to the automatic appliance.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, an automatic appliance configuration registration system comprises (a) an automatic appliance including a memory for storing configuration information for automatically configuring the automatic appliance, and (b) a remote configuration server interface operational to answer an incoming call from the automatic appliance and, in response, transmit the configuration information to the automatic appliance, the remote configuration server comprising (i) a web server connected to an Internet and hosting a registration webpage accessible to a registrant on the Internet, the registration webpage including an input area receiving the configuration information from the registrant; and (ii) a configuration database connected to the web server for storing the configuration information.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, an automatic appliance comprises a first communication interface configured to establish data communications with a remote server on a first communications network to receive configuration information, a memory configured to receive and store the configuration information, and a second communication interface made operational in response to the configuration information for providing access to a second communications network.
According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, a method of configuring an automatic appliance comprises receiving configuration information from a client, storing the configuration information in a memory, accessing the memory with the automatic appliance operating in an initialization mode, downloading the configuration information from the memory to the automatic appliance operating in the initialization mode, automatically configuring a communications interface of the automatic appliance with the configuration information, and connecting to a remote server with the communications interface.